Defying Fate
by Green Days
Summary: Will fate be nice this time? Will they be brought together? Major RM fic. Dark romance. Co-written by KC-Chick and Converses Rolled Down
1. Default Chapter

A/N: This is a revised edition of Chapter One, we noticed our mistake and are thankful to the one who reported it, J.

This is a co-written Fan-fic. KC-Chick and Converses Rolled Down.

The first chapter was written primarily by KC-Chick and edited by Converses Rolled Down. Enjoy!

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Defying Fate

Fifteen year old Ryan Atwood sat starring at the paint on the chipped bars of the jail door. He had been taken in for trying to steal a car. Only, it wasn't his fault. His nineteen-year-old brother Trey had forced him to get in; if he hadn't, he would have had his ass kicked. His brother didn't joke about stuff like that; when he said "get the hell in the car" it meant business. Ryan sat there thinking of how he was going to get out of there. He was still a minor so he knew that he couldn't go to jail…but there was that place called Juvi Hall. They could always send him there and along with however many hours of community service. "Great, spend my time in a hall with stoned jerks who don't give a damn about my life but if I look tough and sit there then maybe Ill survive," thought Ryan. Oh, and he couldn't forget the other 'classic' resort, foster care. There would always be some "nice family" who was willing to take in a kid from the streets and try to teach him their ways. Or, there was the version of parents who didn't care what you did, as long as you put on a good show when the Social Service officer came. Ryan didn't care either way. As long as he could sneak out of there at night and make sure Teresa was OK. "Shit," thought Ryan. "What's Teresa gonna do?" Teresa was Ryan's girlfriend and though it may sound lame to have a serious girlfriend at fifteen, but Ryan was almost sixteen, then maybe being with Teresa wouldn't be lame. Ryan heard loud footsteps coming toward the cell.

"He's in here," said one of the guards. They approached the cell Ryan saw a man in a suit with black hair and furry eyebrows standing next to the guard. The guard unlocked the door and took Ryan by the arm, leading him to a conference room. The guard shut the door with a red button and the man stood, waiting for Ryan to sit. Ryan looked at the gray plastic chair. It didn't look all that comfortable to sit in, but if he didn't want to get used to uncomfortable gray chairs, he may as well sit and at least listen to what this guy in the suit had to say.

"I'm Sandy Cohen," began the man, holding out his hand. Ryan sat there starting at it. Seeing that this kid wasn't going to shake his hand, Sandy pulled it back and straightened up a bit. 'This kid doesn't look so bad,' thought Sandy to himself. "Well, I see that we have a situation on our hands." Sandy opened the manila folder with Ryan Atwood printed boldly on the cover. "Says here that you stole—"

"My brother stole a car-" interrupted Ryan. "I just happened to be in it." Sandy was a bit taken aback by Ryan's sudden talkativeness, but then again, he was just defending himself.

"Alright, your brother stole the car and you're getting some heat for it too?"

"Seems that way,"

"Well, I'll see what I can do about that. Wait here." Sandy walked out of the conference room leaving Ryan to sit there waiting to find out what would happen.

After about thirty minutes Sandy walked in with a guard. "You're free to go," said Sandy. Ryan jerked his head up.

"Serious?"

"Yea, I took care of it."

"Thanks," said Ryan, truly grateful.

As he turned to leave Sandy said, "Here's my card, if you ever need anything, just call."

Ryan nodded but thought, "yea, right."

As Ryan walked out into the cool air he breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid that he wouldn't be seeing daylight like this any time soon. He looked around and seeing that there was no one standing there, decided to go see what was left of his house, if you could call it a house. He walked down the streets and noticed what a crappy part of California he lived in. There were kids wandering in the streets alone, dirty and some with barely any clothes on. He couldn't believe that he had actually grown up here and that people still did. It wasn't a fit place to live for anyone, let alone a kid. He walked down a bit more and finally arrived at his dump of a house. As he walked up the driveway he noticed glass scattered in his lawn. He was guessing his mother had had another fight with her boyfriend and they were probably both sleeping off the wasted feeling. Carefully he walked in, hoping not to get yelled at, but as he walked in, he realized that there was no one in the house. Actually, there was nothing at all. Even the usually sparse rooms now had nothing at all in them. Ryan looked around, and realized that he had been abandoned. He stared at the empty room and then ran outside. He stopped, realizing that there was really nowhere to go. It was a bit chilly so he stuck his hands into his hoodie pockets and felt a light piece of cardboard inside. He took it out and realized that it was the card Sandy Cohen had given him. Ryan stared at it. "If you ever need anything, just call" he had said. Well, right then, Ryan needed a place to sleep. He walked over to a pay phone, found a quarter in his pocket, and shoved it in the slot. One ring…two rings.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Sandy Cohen?"

"Yes…"

"Hey, this is Ryan, Ryan Atwood."

Almost an hour later, Ryan saw a black convertible pull up onto the curb beside the pay phone.

"I didn't know public offense attorney's made so much money," said Ryan, feeling the soft leather covering the passenger seat. Sandy grinned at him.

"I don't, but my wife does."

Ryan stared out into the hot California sun that was lowering in the sky. He couldn't believe that in about five hours he had gone from sitting in a jail cell to sitting in a nice black convertible; being driven to a nice, rich part of California. The thought of Ryan Atwood even walking through a nice neighborhood was completely surreal. But there he was.

The car came to a stop and Sandy broke the long silence that had settled in when they started driving.

"Well here we are."

"This is home?"

Sandy nodded. "_This _is home." He got out of the car and Ryan followed, still having a hard time believing that he was where he was. He walked up the driveway and Sandy unlocked the door.

"Kirsten, I'm home," he called. Right after he did a skinny blonde woman walked into the front room right as Ryan was gazing all around. She smiled at her husband but was surprised to see a boy standing next to him.

"Honey, this is Ryan Atwood. Ryan, this is my wife, Kirsten."

"Hi, nice to meet you," greeted Kirsten with a warming smile.

"Hey," said Ryan shyly.

"Ryan's gonna be staying with us for the weekend," explained Sandy. Kirsten stared at him but her shocked look disappeared. This wasn't the time to have _this_ talk.

"Oh, well great, Ryan, I'll just get you some clean sheets for the pool house ok? I'll just be a minute."

'Pool house?' thought Ryan to himself before following Kirsten. She led him through a large kitchen and outside. They walked past the pool and into a building large enough to be a small apartment. Ryan walked inside as Kirsten led the way.

"This is where you'll be staying," Ryan gazed around the huge room and saw a comfy bed in the middle as well as a mini kitchen off to the side.

"I'll get you those sheets, be right back," Kirsten as she walked out. Ryan stood there for a couple more seconds and then decided to go outside and have a smoke. He knew it probably wasn't the healthiest thing to do at 15, but hey, no one had ever cared about his health anyway so he might as well if no one was giving him a hard time about it. He took out a cigarette and lit it, Right as he inhaled a puff of smoke in, he felt a hand taking it out of his mouth.

"No smoking while you're here," said Kirsten.

"Sorry," Ryan replied feeling a bit guilty. After all, this wasn't his house.

"Its ok, just don't do it again," Kirsten walked back into the pool house and placed the sheets on the bed, then walked back out and met Ryan. "Why don't you come inside and meet our son, Seth." Ryan nodded and Kirsten led the way back inside the house and into the living room where they found a kid with brown shaggy hair and scrawny arms sitting on the floor playing a video game.

"Seth," said Kirsten, trying to get her son's attention.

"Yea Mom?" replied the kid, still not looking away from the screen.

"Seth, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Ryan, he'll be staying with us for the weekend," Seth looked up from the screen.

"Oh, hey dude," greeting Seth and then went right back to playing his game, which irritated Kirsten a bit.

"Hey," Ryan replied awkwardly. Kirsten, seeing that the two boys probably needed time to get to know each other, retreated to the kitchen to talk to her husband about all this.

"Sandy, he's not some lost puppy, you can't bring someone home every time they look slightly lost."

"I know honey, I'm sorry, I should've called you first, but it'll only be for the weekend," Kirsten stared at her husband and knowing that he usually kept his word, let it go.

"Ok, fine. But only for the weekend," Sandy smiled at his wife. He knew she'd give in eventually.

Meanwhile, Ryan and Seth were in the living room, failing to get to know each other. Finally, Seth broke the silence.

"So, you into comic books?" asked Seth.

"Yea,"

"Ok, I'll show you some of mine, come on." Seth led the way upstairs and into a room with blue walls and covered with posters. He walked over to the dresser and pulled out a stack of comics. "What are you into, Superman, Spiderman, X-Men?"

"X-Men," replied Ryan and Seth threw a copy at him, "Whoa, this is first edition."

"Heck yes it is," Ryan gazed at the comic book and Seth asked him another question.

"So, why are you here?"

"Oh, I got taken into custody and your dad bailed me out."

"Whoa really, what'd ya do?"

"Stole a car,"

"Really?"

"Well more like my brother stole it but I got thrown in jail to and your dad was nice enough to bail me out and here I am."

"Well, this is awesome. I won't be alone in high school this year."

"Don't get your hopes up, I have no clue how long I'm staying. Besides, I don't think you're mom is too happy about it."

"Oh don't worry, she'll accept it eventually."

There was another silence between the two and Ryan noticed a plastic horse placed on the nightstand. Seth noticed him eyeing it strangely and explained. "That's Captain Oats," said Seth proudly. "He's my sidekick, through thick and thin." Ryan found his answer a bit odd, but then again everything about this whole situation seemed odd to him so he shrugged it off.

"Oh, that's cool," replied Ryan, not wanting to be rude.

"So, you're staying in the pool house right?"

"Yea,"

"Oh that place is awesome."

"Yea it seems pretty decked out,"

They stood there for a couple more seconds then Seth said, "Ya wanna play some video games?"

"Sure,"

"Come on let's go." Seth led the way out of his room and back into the living room. "Oh, just a word of advice, never eat anything my mom cooks."

"Why not?"

"Well, let's just say, she's not the best cook in the world. She tried to make rice once and it tasted all crunchy and sweet at the same time. Like that rice crispy cereal stuff, it was disgusting. And this was during Thanksgiving! No one wants to eat sweet crispy rice during Thanksgiving," Ryan laughed at Seth's explanation but realized that he would have given anything a mom who cared enough to cook, even crunchy sweet rice for Thanksgiving, They sat down and Seth put in some type of pirate fighting game into the PS2.

After playing for about an hour, Kirsten called the boys into the kitchen for dinner.

"Is Chinese ok?" she asked Ryan.

"Yea, it's great," replied Ryan, just thankful for some food to eat.

"See, I told you she couldn't cook, which is why they invented take out."

"Seth, I'm not that bad!" said Kirsten defensively.

"Oh, but honey, you are," teased Sandy. Seth grinned at his dad.

"Don't listen to these two Ryan, my cooking is fine," Ryan smiled. It was funny to see a family joke around like this, especially because he wasn't used to it.

After dinner, Ryan had helped clean up and then went outside for a smoke. Even though he knew it wasn't allowed, he just had to. Besides, it would give him some time to think about everything that had happened in the last couple of hours. He walked out to the curb and took out a cigarette again, lit it, then placed it into his mouth. Leaning against the wall he noticed someone walking through the darkness, a girl. She was slim; seemed to be about his age. He looked away, not wanting it to seem like he was staring or anything, even though he was. The girl got closer to him and eyed him suspiciously.

Then she stood there for a couple seconds and not being able to control her curiosity any longer asked, "Who are you?"

Ryan was surprised by her question let alone that she had actually started talking to him first. He looked over and this time she was closer than the first time he had seen her now caught a glimpse of her true beauty.

He was mesmerized by it for a moment and then realizing that she had asked him a question, he answered, "Whoever you want me to be."

'Smooth,' he thought to himself. The girl looked at him in wonder. He certainly wasn't like anyone around Newport.

"Oh, well, I'm Marissa Cooper," she said. "I live next door." They stood there for a couple more seconds and Marissa asked a question again.

"So what are you doing standing out in front of the Cohen's house?"

"It's a free country isn't it? Can't I stand here if I want to?"

"Sure, it might get a little lonely though."

"That's true."

"So really, what are you doing here?"

"The truth? I got caught stealing a car and was thrown in jail. Sandy's my public offense defender and since my mom ran out on me for her boyfriend, he took me in here for the weekend." Marissa smiled at him.

"You're their cousin from Boston, aren't you?" Ryan smiled back.

"Yea,"

Just then a black jeep pulled into the circle and up to the curb where Ryan and Marissa were standing. Loud music was booming from the car and the front door swung open.

"Get in Rissa!" Someone yelled from the car, Marissa obeyed the command and got into the car. "Who's that?" asked the guy.

"Oh that's…the Cohen's cousin," she said simply, then looking back at Ryan she said, "Nice talking to you," then slammed the car door shut. She didn't really seem like she wanted to go, but the guy driving seemed pretty demanding. Ryan stood on the curb for a couple more seconds then realized that the cigarette was almost all burned out, and that he hadn't even taken in a smoke, he threw it down and stepped on it. Then he walked back into the huge house that he'd be staying in.

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	2. Blades of Grass

Disclaimer: This is Converses Rolled Down, and I am just letting you know this is a co-written fic with KC-Chick and myself, we don't own anything oc realted, but dont we wish.

A/N: This chapter was primarily written by Converses Rolled Down and edited by KC-Chick. The plot was an idea of KC-Chick and Converses Rolled Down. Enjoy!

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The pool house bed was somewhat uncomfortable; Ryan shifted his weight on and off. The sheets were cotton, and he wasn't used to any name brand sheets. They tickled his bare stomach and stuck to his wind breaker pants. The night air pushed him awake. The sounds of the California winds brought him to the side of the Cohen house.

'Time for a smoke,' Ryan thought.

The cigarette felt natural in between his fingers. He flipped the lighter out of his pocket and let the fire burn the cigarette and the tip of his finger. Pain wasn't a big thing for him; he'd been in too many hospitals to count. Broken ribs, leg, cuts large enough to need stitches, and the one time he ran into a brick wall with his fist; he was attempting to knock his brother, Trey, out. The burn felt to Ryan like a kiss on the cheek from a loving mother and somehow, the feeling made his eyes start to water a little bit. He hadn't intended on crying, but here he was, this fifteen-year-old, Chino, tough boy crying. He wiped his face with the back of his worn hand. The little cracks in his hand made like a delta for his tears. He laughed at the little rivers flowing into the Cohen's well fed grass. Suddenly a small giggle came from, what sounded like, below him. Ryan whipped around and found himself face to face with Marissa Cooper.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan held his heart, that girl really made him jump.

"Can't sleep," she stated simply, and sat down on the newly wetted grass, "you _can _sit by me you know?"

Ryan shrugged, put his cigarette out in the bushes and sat down.

"Were you crying?" Marissa asked to break the silence.

Ryan lifted his burnt finger, "burnt myself,"

"Sure."

Ryan glanced at her from the corner of his eye, he smiled lightly. His face was glowing a little bit; he put his hand on his chin, and tried to hide it.

"You sure you weren't crying?"

"I told you, I burnt my hand," Ryan cringed with pain, for some reason he could feel it now, now that Marissa was by him.

Silence took over the teens, yet it wasn't uncomfortable. Both Ryan and Marissa merely watched the air blow over the small blades of grass.

"You like it here?" Marissa turned toward him.

"Better than where I came from yeah," Ryan searched his hands for a better answer, all that was given to him were his blue eyes reflected on the salty tears.

"Come on, Boston can't be that bad," Marissa smiled.

Ryan swallowed hard, "I'm not from Boston. I'm from Chino."

Marissa gazed off, hoping he was joking, "Chino," she repeated.

"Yeah."

"So then the story of you stealing that car was true?"

"My brother, Trey, stole it not me."

Marissa searched his ocean eyes, "you're not kidding."

Ryan looked down at the blades of glass he had clutched into his fist, "no."

"Then Newport is a hell of a lot different," Marissa laughed uncomfortably.

Ryan tilted his head back and looked up toward the stars, "hell of a lot."

Ryan lay on his back; Marissa followed suit.

"You know, in Chino you can never see the stars like this. Too much smoke, too many street lights." Crickets made their presence known, Marissa jumped at the sound, "you can't hear insects either in Chino. Gun shots are the only thing keeping you in touch with reality. Sirens blaze through the streets, not caring if newborns are awakened by the sound, but just blaring them in hopes that they get to the victim of whatever horrible crime in time. Nothing like this-"

Marissa cut him off, "You really don't see the stars in Chino?"

Ryan looked at her, his arms still supporting his head, "No not like this, no. You know what's kinda funny in Newport you're only afraid of what to wear to the next party, in Chino we are afraid of what we're wearing in case we're buried in it."

Marissa watched Ryan look up into the sky she had seen every night of her life, she never once looked at the stars in the wonder that Ryan did. She smiled as he watched the sky in all its stillness. The stars now looked different to her, somewhat unreal, like Ryan had opened her eyes for the first time, suddenly she was seeing what he was, and it was something to wonder at. Her hand slipped and she fell back onto her back, Ryan laughed as she wiped her shirt clean.

"I better get home, my mom might get worried," Marissa struggled to her feet.

"Thanks," Ryan mumbled.

"For what?" Marissa asked as she pulled her shirt down to cover her bear stomach.

"Listening to me," Ryan said shyly.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"It's just new to me that's all, and I figured I should thank you," Ryan looked into her aqua colored eyes, and stood watching her watch him.

"You're welcome," Marissa sputtered as she walked off to her house.

Ryan slept peacefully the rest of the night, without the cravings of a smoke, without hearing any noise like gun shots, or having the urge to run while he still could. For the first time, in his fifteen-year-old life, he felt safe and warm. The warmth came not from the temperature of the Newport air, but rather the warmth of the love he was surrounded by. He hadn't been there a full day and he already was receiving more love than any he had at home.

Sandy's nose expanded from the smell of bacon frying, he had sworn Kirsten did not know how to cook any kind of breakfast food, besides bagels. The sizzle of the meat on the pan grew louder as Sandy got out of bed and walked toward the kitchen. There, in windbreakers and a wife beater was Ryan humming some indistinguishable song and hovering over the bacon and eggs.

"Morning," Ryan jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Scared me," Ryan said softly.

"Sorry. What are you doing up so early?"

"I always make the breakfast at my house." Ryan gestured toward a plate, "habit," he added.

"You don't have to make breakfast here, Ryan," Sandy grabbed for the eggs first, "scrambled just like I like 'em," Sandy grinned.

Seth's hard footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, "Mom, I told you not to cook you'll…" he stopped mid-sentence when he saw Ryan at the stove, "you'll… burn… the… house… down."

Ryan laughed slightly, without anyone noticing of course, and handed Seth a plate.

"I heard that Sethala." Kirsten walked in gracefully as if she had never slept at all.

"Mom, the nickname again?"

"Again?" Ryan asked.

"She went through this stage of finding the perfect nickname for me; it went from Se-Se, Sethy-boy, S.C, to Sethala."

Kirsten gave a sarcastic smile in Seth's direction and took a seat at the table, next to Sandy.

"Ryan, wanna go sailing today?"

Ryan shrugged.

"Come on man, S-A-I-L-I-N-G."

"Glad you can spell son," Sandy hadn't said a word since he began eating.

"Ryan you know you want to," Seth searched for a more persuading argument to sail, "what are you afraid of water? Can't swim?"

Ryan glared at him, not needing to say a word to explain himself.

"I like that a no-word yes!"

Seth prepared the _Summer Breeze_ easily not even bothering to ask for help from Ryan, who had acquired more muscle in his fifteen years than Seth.

"Come on, out to sea we go."

The water slammed against the boat, rocking it from side to side. Ryan's hand glided through the water breaking the oceans natural movements. Disturbing peace, that's what Ryan was born to do.

"So...never been sailing before?" Seth was desperate for a conversation, he had never liked silence.

"No, Ryan looked at Seth's face, full of disappointment that his question didn't spark a conversation, "So, why'd you name it _Summer Breeze_?"

Seth's face brightened, "named this here boat after the love of my life. Summer Roberts. He took a deep breath and pretended to swoon; weird thing was it looked serious.

"Did she like it?"

"Actually I…" Seth played with the ropes on the sail, trying to stall, "I've never spoken to her; I doubt she even knows I exist, no, never mind, I _know_ she doesn't know I exist."

"Wait! So you named a boat after a girl you don't even know?"

"Well, I know her, she just doesn't know me."

Ryan shook his head, and watched the ocean rise and fall into nothingness.

"There's a fashion show tonight," Seth said after a while.

"Fashion show," Ryan laughed.

"It's for charity." he grew irritated as the boat fought with him.

"Are you going?"

"I have to."

"Summer going to be there?" asked Ryan, giving Seth a sideways glance.

"Probably..."

Ryan rolled his eyes, shaking his head once more.

"Definitely…yes,"

"Then we'll both go." Ryan was never this eager to do anything remotely social, but something about Seth just made him want to help.

"Dude, are you serious?"

"Sure, why not, it can't be _that _bad…," Ryan didn't know how bad it could get.

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	3. Of Fashion Shows and First Parties

Disclaimer still stands.

A/N: Hey all! Sorry for the long update, both been busy. This chapter was written by KC-Chick and read over by Converses Rolled Down.

Ryan stood in front of a long mirror trying to figure out if there was a way that he couldn't look completely wimpy in the suit he had just put on. Ryan was never one for suits. He couldn't remember wearing one since he was…actually he couldn't remember wearing one at all. Chino didn't have the need for you to dress up in nice clothes. He stared at his reflection a bit more before Seth's chatter that could be heard a mile away broke his concentration.

"So, excited?" asked Seth, hopeful that Ryan hadn't changed his mind after hearing all the details of the fashion show. Ryan turned to face Seth. One look was all it took for Seth to understand.

"Welcome to my life," Seth responded. "Except you actually have me to keep you company the first time. Me, I had to sit on a chair next to the bar and stare at people. Pretty soon the bartender got sick of me and made me go ask a girl to dance…it didn't go over too well."

"What happened?"

"Well, let's just say that by the end of the night I had a big red hand print on my cheek and a restraining order against me. But it wasn't my fault that she had something in her ear and I wanted to take it out!" Ryan once more stared at this shaggy haired kid, mainly because he didn't know what to say and had to keep himself contained for fear that he might uncontrollably start laughing, but that wasn't Ryan's way anyway. So instead, he went back to trying to figure out how he could make the suit look better.

"Its still going to look like you just came from one of those fancy waiter cartoons," commented Seth, noticing that Ryan was eyeing the suit in disgust. "But don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually."

"Does it always itch this much?" asked Ryan, scratching the back of his neck.

"The first time, yeah. Think of it this way, it's like a new pair of underwear. It feels uncomfortable at first, but then, it becomes a part of you." Ryan stared at him once more, only this time smiling a bit.

'I hope I do get to stick around,' Ryan thought to himself. He wouldn't mind having Seth around all the time. Truth be told, the kid wasn't all that bad.

There was a knock on the pool house door.

"Everything going ok you two?" asked Kirsten as she walked through. Ryan smiled slightly.

"Yea, it's great. Thanks for picking the suit up on such sort notice."

"Oh it's no problem. I'm glad you can join us tonight. It was so nice of Seth to invite you. Come to think of it, I don't know why I didn't think of it myself." Ryan didn't know what to say. He wasn't used to all this talking. In Chino, the silence was pretty much taken over by gun shots and sirens. There wasn't much time for talking, let alone the sound capacity for it. "Well, you two drive down to the fashion show alright and Sandy and I will join you soon. We just have to finish getting ready. And Seth, be careful, remember your seatbelt."

"Mom…I know…I've had my license for what…three weeks now…I'll be ok."

"Just making sure your safe."

Kirsten walked out of the pool house and back into the kitchen where she found her husband eating a bagel. "Sandy! We have to leave in 10 minutes! Why aren't you dressed?" Her husband looked at her, mouth full of bagel. Once it was swallowed he answered,

"Oh honey, do I really have to go? Haven't we been to enough of these?" Kirsten Cohen gave her husband a stern look.

"Sandy, you know we have to. It's for charity."

"Aren't half of these for charity?"

"Well yes but…"

"No buts honey, you know they're all the same scheme so Julie Cooper can gossip about the latest of Newport." Kirsten looked down at her feet. She knew it was the truth. Julie thrived on these types of events to flaunt off whatever new piece of news she had come up with or uncovered. But now that Kirsten already promised, and considering that the event was in a half hour, they couldn't _not _go.

"I know Sandy, but the boys are already on their way." It felt odd to call Ryan and Seth "the boys" but she liked the way it rolled off the tongue. Sandy started at his wife a second more and seeing that he couldn't talk his way out of this one, put down the half eaten bagel and walked upstairs to change.

Ten minutes later, Sandy Cohen walked down the stairs in a black suit and stripped tie. He fiddled around with the tie for a bit until he heard light footsteps walking to the front foyer. Sandy turned around and gazed at his wife who was in a black cocktail dress and black pumps. He smiled at her and she took his arm while grabbing her purse off the small table with the other. She smiled as to say 'Let's get this over with.'

As Ryan and Seth walked in through glass doors, they saw waiters and waitresses setting up tables with food and carrying those mini treys around. They all seemed in a hurry since the fashion show was to begin shortly. They stood a couple seconds and Ryan was in awe at all the chaos around.

"Dude, it's really no big deal." Ryan looked at the stage.

"_This _isn't a big deal? Look, that stage is huge!"

"You really don't get out much do you?" joked Seth. Ryan gave him "the stare." Seth grinned. He knew perfectly well that Chino didn't have places like this. After a few more seconds of silence, Ryan spotted Marissa off to the side of the stage and to where the curtains separating the front form the back were. She was talking to a tall guy with a perfect tan and a face that looked like it needed a good punch. Ryan cracked his knuckles.

"That's Marissa," said Seth, noticing that he was eyeing his neighbor with a curious eye.

"I know," responded Ryan.

"You know her already?" asked Seth, surprised.

"I met her outside on the driveway. She was waiting for a ride and we got to talk a bit. Then some jerk picked her up in a huge car."

"Oh, it was probably Luke…her boyfriend." Ryan cringed at the word. How could that much of a bastard be her boyfriend? 'She deserves better,' thought Ryan to himself. "That's him right over there." Seth motioned over to the guy Marissa was talking to. He was the one that looked like his face needed a good fixing with Ryan's fist. Cracking his knuckles again, Ryan now _really _had the urge to punch this guy. Seth noticed how tense Ryan got, so he decided to change the subject.

"So, excited?" Seth asked for the second time that day.

"I guess so," Ryan replied. It was pretty interesting to see how these people lived all the time. They worried about who was wearing what and what shoes matched with which outfit. He was just used to worrying about staying alive. Ryan looked over at Marissa again. This time, she was looking back. A huge smile came across her face and she walked over to the two boys.

"Hey…Seth right?"

"Amazed you even remember."

"Well, of course I remember, I've been your neighbor for 6 years."

"Yea, kinda funny the way you seem to forget it at school though." Marissa looked down at her feet. She felt really ashamed, especially in front of Ryan.

"So, you two here for the fashion show?" she asked anxiously.

"Yea, Ryan here decided to tag along," responded Seth.

'Ryan…so _that's _his name…' thought Marissa to herself. 'I like it.'

"Yea, I didn't really want to stay in a huge house by myself so I thought I'd check this out."

"Well, I'm glad you came," said Marissa happily and once again flashing a huge smile at him. He smiled back at her and pretty soon Seth got sick of staring at them.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready?" asked Seth, a bit pushy. Ryan and Marissa were thrown out of the daze they were in.

"Oh! Right!" Marissa said. It seemed as though she had forgotten that she actually had something to do other than stare at Ryan all night. "Well, I'm gonna go, but I'll see you after alright?" the question was more to Ryan than Seth.

"Yea, of course we will Marissa," said Seth. Marissa lingered on for a second longer, and just long enough for Seth to ask her the question burning in his mind.

"Uh, Marissa…is Summer around?" Marissa smiled. She knew about Seth's crush on her best friend. Mostly everyone did…well, everyone _except _Summer. But that was only for the sole reason that she didn't know he existed.

"Yea Seth, she's around, but you probably won't see her until the party afterward." Marissa wouldn't have exposed this bit of news to Seth of all people, but if it meant him bringing along Ryan, then she was all for it.

"Oh, right. Well then I guess I'll just see her then…uh…thanks."

"No problem." Marissa left to get ready for the show.

The fashion show passed in a daze for Seth and Ryan. Basically, it was spent with them watching Newport's finest flaunting off expensive clothes that Ryan could never afford. He had seen Marissa a couple of times and she had smiled at him each time. He was glad that they were becoming something like friends…the one thing he didn't like was that boyfriend of hers. But there was nothing that he could do now could he? But, its not like he was staying forever anyway. Only one more day and he'd be back in the streets of Chino, toughing it up.

"So, that wasn't _that _bad, was it?" asked Kirsten after they had all met up back at the house.

"No, it was great," responded Ryan, not wanting to be rude. But truth be told, if he didn't have Marissa to look at for a good portion of the night…he might have left, or at least gone out for a smoke…but Marissa was better.

"Oh, he's just being polite," said Sandy. "Now, what did you _really _think? I mean, if you hated it, you can tell me, it'll give Seth and I one more ally in our fight not to go to these pointless events."

"Oh Sandy, stop. It wasn't so bad. At least Julie didn't flaunt everything one hundred percent of the time…"

"No, it was more like ninety five." Kirsten gave her husband a stern look.

"Mom, Dad's right ya know, but at least this time, Ryan was with me so I didn't have to suffer all alone."

"See, the night wasn't a complete waste. So boys, its still early, do you guys want to go out or order a pizza or something?" Kirsten knew that Seth didn't have many friends so she wanted to do something nice for them.

"Well I could probably set up the PS2 and-"

"Actually, there's a party we got invited to," cut in Ryan. "Do you think it'd be ok if we went?"

Kirsten looked at her husband. She was reluctant about letting them go anywhere, but since Ryan wasn't staying long, maybe it was a way for Seth to make some friends.

"Ok, but be home at eleven ok?"

"Mom, don't worry, we'll be fine."

With that, the two boys headed down to the beach where the party was. They walked in through the back where they heard booming music. They walked closer and it was complete chaos inside. Seth and Ryan managed to make their way partly through the crowd a short girl with black hair got in their way. Seth stopped abruptly and looked the other way.

"Ooo!" the girl shrieked. "Who are you? I haven't seen you before…Coop! Come check this out…there's a new kid on the block." She giggled in delight because she had actually made reference to an old 80's band. This girl was obviously drunk.

"Yea Sum?" came a voice that was soon followed by Marissa coming through everyone.

"Coop, look, we have a new piece of fine-ness to look at!" Marissa blushed and was a bit embarrassed by her drunk friend.

"Yea, that's Ryan and Seth."

"Seth? Who's that?"

"Him," pointed Marissa to the shaggy haired kid trying to hide his face.

"Hey…" Seth waved awkwardly. But Summer didn't respond, she just turned her drunk attention back to Ryan.

"So, tell me more about…Ryan…Marissa."

"Oh, well he's staying with the Cohen's, but he's from Chino…"

"Ooo! We have a bad boy on our hands!" screamed Summer. She then took Ryan's arm and dragged him through the crowd and they disappeared behind all the mini skirts and polo shirts leaving Marissa and Seth standing by themselves.

"That went over well…" said Seth glumly.

"Yea…she gets that way sometimes…"

"I know." Seth looked at his feet, disappointed that Ryan was the one being dragged off instead of him, and then, he looked up and walked the opposite direction.

Ryan was finally out of the crowd and outside letting the warm sand get into his new shoes. 'Damn these dress shoes,' thought Ryan. He was on the lookout for Seth. He hadn't seen him since that wasted Summer character had dragged him off into a crowd of dancing people and only now had he managed to get away. It was only because she had gotten drunk enough not to realize who was who anymore. Ryan gazed off onto the rocks that stood off the shore and noticed Seth sitting on one of them, hand under chin and staring out aimlessly. He walked over.

"Hey," whispered Ryan.

"Hey Ryan, have fun with Summer?"

"No, actually, I didn't. she dragged me into the crowd and starting flaunting me off and all I really wanted to do was punch someone."

"Yea...sure." said Seth, unconvinced. "You know you liked it." Ryan stared at him in disbelief.

"Are you mad at me?'

"No, why would I be upset that you went off with the girl you know I like. You were just doing it to rub it in weren't you?"

"Seth! I didn't ask to be dragged off like that. I would have gladly stayed where I was and let you go off with her."

"Yea, I'm—" Seth never got to finish the rest of his statement because a scream interrupted him. It came from the house and Seth and Ryan ran to the doors again to see what was going on. Marissa was on the floor, unconscious and that Luke guy was hovered over her. There was also another blonde next to him. She looked as though someone had tried to pull her hair out because it was all messed up and sticking out all over the place.

Ryan ran to Marissa's side only to be yelled at by Luke.

"Get the hell away from her!" said Luke in an aggressive tone.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll punch your face in, that's what."

"I just wanna make sure she's ok."

"She'll be fine. Now don't make me say this again, get the hell away!" Ryan looked at this guy. He really needed a good punch in the face, but he wasn't going to do it above Marissa's unconscious body. He bent down to his knees to pick Marissa up and right as he was sliding his arms under her limp body, a cold hand stopped him.

"You really don't understand me do you?" Luke took Ryan by the arm and dragged him outside. Once there he saw that Seth was outside as well. "Do I get two for one today?"

"Whoa, hold on Luke, I didn't do anything."

"Shut up geek, come one boys." Luke called over his other water polo teammates and they swung Seth upside down and gave him a really bad wedgy.

"Hey, get away from him," Ryan said defensively.

"You again? I thought that me giving me this preview would teach you a lesson. I guess not." Luke Ward gave Ryan Atwood his first punch since arriving to the OC. Ryan collapsed on the ground and was too surprised to come back up and punch Luke back. "Welcome to the OC, bitch!" laughed Luke. Right as he turned around to walk back in, Ryan got back up and punched him back. This time Luke was the one to fall helplessly on the California sand and he groaned in pain.

Ryan walked over to Seth, who was trying to fix his underwear that was uncomfortably placed between his butt cheeks.

"You ok?"

"Yea Ryan it's all good. I'm used to it. They've been doing this since 7th grade. I just learn to avoid them but ya kinda got in his face…"

"Sorry about that."

"I guess it just comes with the territory of a new kid."

"Well come on, get up. I think we have to be going or Kirsten's gonna kill us."

"Right. Just…don't mention this to the parental units alright?"

"Deal…just one thing."

"Yea?"

"Don't ever try to take a wedgy out in front of me ever again," joked Ryan.

"You try getting one from Luke Ward, captain of the water polo team, and then we'll talk."

A/N: So, what'd ya think? Push that review button and say so for more!


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